Phubbing

Today, I want to encourage us all to stop engaging in a practice known as “phubbing”. . . which is spelled p-h-u-b-b-i-n-g. Phubbing is a term that was first coined about ten years ago by an Australian advertising agency to describe the smart-phone induced practice of snubbing interaction with others in your physical presence by engaging with your phone. One study that is already five years old and likely outdated, found that more than seventeen percent of people admit to phubbing others at least four times a day. The same study found that thirty-two percent of people report being phubbed two to three times a day. How does it feel when you are in a face-to-face conversation with another person, and that person suddenly turns away from you and starts talking to someone else in the room? We should remember that we are doing the exact same thing when we turn to our phones. God has made us for relationships. Let’s foster rather than undermine those connections.